Scripture Study - Bring

 1/22/24 – Bring

And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Luke 2:10) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Pet. 3:18)

… I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens … and I will rid you out of … bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, … (Ex. 6:6-7) Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22:12) And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again …; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Gen. 28:15)

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out…, and gather them …, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them … I will feed them in a good pasture, … there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed … I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: … (Ezek. 34:11:16)

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; … (Heb. 13:20-21) Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely; Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire – (Alma 5:34-35) I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isa. 42:6-7) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation: that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isa. 52:7)

Insights: The birth of our Savior was heralded by angels bringing the good news. News of a Savior from both temporal and spiritual death. Christ not only overcame physical death through His resurrection, but he overcame spiritual death through His Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only through these acts could He then bring us back into the presence of God the Father through grace and repentance – if we choose to utilize Jesus’ sacrifices in our own lives.

Jesus offers to find us when we are lost, to care for us as we are broken, to set us on the right paths to eternal redemption. He is the ultimate Good Shepherd! He has issued the challenge to follow Him, to do righteousness, to not come to Him alone. He will be with us the whole way – our wingman, our strength, our guiding star. We don’t have to be perfect in doing His work, His will. We just need to be willing and He will use us to the best and beyond of our abilities. As we willingly allow Him to work through us, we will be blessed beyond measure!

I want to talk about why I love this particular image so much. It is my favorite of images of Christ and sheep. I look at this sheep and imagine it is me. There have been times that I have felt like the black sheep (notice the black face of the sheep), yet even then my Savior loves me. There have been times that I have been broken (notice the broken leg of the lamb), and I have felt my Savior bind up my wounds and heal me. Not often immediately, but more frequently over time. Too many times I have felt alone and in darkness (notice there are no other sheep in the picture and the darkness behind the Savior), but if I allow it, my Savior will find me, gather me up, and carry me back to His fold where I am not alone. None of us will go through life without mistakes, sorrows, feelings of inadequacy or loneliness. Yet through it all, if we allow Him, Christ will be beside us, and steady us, and comfort us, and strengthen us. We don't have to be alone! And we don't have to let anyone else be alone either. When we are feeling stronger, we can be His hands to seek, find, bind up, and bring others. How beautiful is that? How precious is the concept of walking in the Savior's footsteps to heal someone else? What a marvelous chance to do so. May you see those opportunities and step boldly into them.